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Fleury, Crosby lift Penguins over Rangers again

New York Rangers right wing Martin St. Louis (26) takes a shot on Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) in the second period of their second-round NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoff game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, May 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

"We put our best foot forward in each and every game. Now we've got a full day to recover."

The tide turned in Pittsburgh's favour in the second period for the third straight game.

New York had 2:15 remaining on a 4-minute power play that began in the first, but couldn't cash in. To make matters worse for the Rangers, Crosby took a long stretch pass from defenceman Robert Bortuzzo, outraced Marc Staal, and beat Lundqvist between the pads from the left circle 19 seconds after James Neal left the penalty box. It was Crosby's 41st career playoff goal.

The Penguins struck for their second goal right after killing another penalty. Jokinen jumped out of the box and got to a loose puck in the neutral zone after Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello failed to connect on a backward pass in the Pittsburgh end.

Jokinen came in alone and scored his fifth of the playoffs with 4:40 left in the second — 8 seconds after his penalty ended.

"The Jokinen one, just stepping out of the box and finding his way onto that puck, and making it 2-0. That obviously is a tough pill to swallow," Bylsma said of the Rangers.

New York was suddenly down by two and had the weight of its anemic power play enveloping the team even more. During the Rangers' last advantage in the second period, the Madison Square Garden crowd implored them to "Shoot the puck!" They did, but to no avail.

New York led 26-14 in shots through two periods, yet trailed by two.

"I am happy about our whole team," Vigneault said. "We played a real strong game. That is one of the best two-way teams in the league."

Zuccarello thought earlier in the second that he had tied the game, but his drive struck the crossbar, skittered across the goal line, and stayed out.

The Rangers received their first power play 5:16 in when Marcel Goc was called for roughing Dominic Moore after an icing call.

Neal later got his 4-minute penalty for hitting Jesper Fast in the mouth with his stick with 1:45 remaining. Benoit Pouliot had the best chance during the first half of the advantage when he fired a drive off the right post with 14 seconds left in the period.

Before that, Zuccarello had the best scoring chance when he one-timed a pass from Pouliot during 5-on-5 play from the left circle that Fleury snagged with a stretch of his glove with 2:41 left.

Lundqvist turned aside Chris Kunitz on a breakaway, for the second time in as many days, during New York's first power play.

"It's the first to four wins," Lundqvist said. "We will take a deep breath here and get ready for Wednesday.

"That's going to be a very important game for us. This is definitely not over."

NOTES: Crosby was nominated as a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the "Most Outstanding Player." He won it last season and in 2007. ... The Rangers replaced rugged forwards Daniel Carcillo and Derek Dorsett with Fast and J.T. Miller, and put defenceman Raphael Diaz in for the first time in these playoffs. John Moore sat out.

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